GetSatisfaction.com

...She got kind of flustered and said that it was a different situation but couldn't explain why. So I said that if they also sold shorts in the store that I'd better not wear those in either and I took off my shorts. Same goes for the shoes and sunglasses. Now I'm standing there in my spandex and a sports bra and I ask here if I can leave my things behind the customer service counter where they will be safe until I finish making my purchases and she said that I couldn't come into the store without shoes on, to which i responded "but I certainly can't wear shoes into the store because you sell those here and someone might think I've stolen them." She threatened to call security if I didn't leave so I told her that I would never be coming back to that store again and that I was glad I hadn't driven there since the gas to go four miles was probably more expensive than what her underpaid employees make in an hour.

Her expression when the shirt came off was absolutely priceless...I was pretty tempted to take off the spandex too but I wasn't sure what constitutes indecent exposure in Virginia so I figured I'd err on the side of caution. Still I had a decent sized crowd gathered before the end of the discussion.

Wal Mart is Evil so I took off my clothes [Bike Forums]
(Photo: Getty)

David wanted a refurbished unit to test-run iPhone applications he was developing for work. AT&T gave him a a mishmash of conflicting information after he placed his order. One CSR said the unit would ship that day. Five days later, another CSR said the unit would ship within 3 days, but that was also wrong, and the package shipped that night with DHL.

DHL delivered the package the next day:

My wife calls to tell me she found the DHL delivery, but it's not a box. It's a shipping envelope. She asks if she should open it. I tell her please do.

"It's just a bag."
"It's a what?"
"It's a bag. It's an empty plastic bag."
"Well, um, er, is there anything else in the package at all? A note or anything?"
"There's a shipping label. But this is just a bag like you'd get if you bought something in their store."

When David called for an explanation, a supervisor explained that "there was a memo telling him that refurbished iPhone shipments had a technical glitch in shipping and would be delayed for a few days."

David isn't alone. AT&T's heavily moderated forums are littered with similar complaints. When David tried to post contact information for AT&T's executive office (877-734-0766,) he received the following reprimand:

Hello,

We'd like to ask that you not post contact info for the Office of the President in posts or PMs until an AT&T moderator can PM you. Failure to follow moderator directions can result in loss of posting privileges.

regards

David only wants the iPhone he ordered. The applications he designed just don't work the same on AT&T's Empty Plastic Bag ®.

AT&T is shipping empty plastic bags to iPhone customers [Where's My iPhone?]

"They publicly threatened me, just to show their arrogance," he told El Reg by email.

He told us that Creative contacted him on a chat session. "They were sarcastic, ironic and asked me if I wanted something from them, as if I were expecting something," he wrote. "It was my protest against them and would like to see how far it would go."

He acknowledges that Creative has a case regarding intellectual property, but is furious about the company's strategy. "I'd say they are stealing [from] their own customers by disabling features based on technologies they own (so they did it on purpose) and by charging for a software that requires an improved driver that they refuse to provide."

"At least they are getting flamed all over the web and they are certainly mad about it. That is enough reward for my hard work," he wrote.

Creative climbs down over home brew Vista drivers [The Register]
(Photo: Young Frankenstein)
PREVIOUSLY: Creative Sparks Customer Revolt When It Tries To Silence Third-Party Programmer

Over the weekend, Creative's forums have exploded with posts from angry customers who have sworn to stop buying their products. There's already a boycott site up at boycottcreative.com.

A Creative Forum poster named "youAREkidding" summed up Creative's stupidity quite nicely:

Imagine what would happen if 10%, just 10% of the people who will read about this, be in a store somewhere, see someone about to buy a Creative Labs product, and say to that potential customer. "If you have Vista, Creative has non-functioning drivers for it, there was a guy who created a Modified driver, but Creative made him stop distributing it, and there are still no workable drivers for Vista." Some people might laugh at him, but the majority of computer perhiperal buyers don't know squat, and if they hear it from someone who presents themselves in a knowledgeable manner, they may actually think twice about it. Creative loses another sale.
 
So, yes, Daniel may very well have stepped on some copyright rules, and Creative had the lawful option of doing what they did. Score 100 on the law, score minus several millions for not doing the job themselves in the first place, and putting someone like Daniel in a position where he had to do what he did, just to get the customers of this company happy.

Let me just remind you that for example NVIDIA still supports GeForce generations 5, 6, 7, and 8 in their latest video drivers for XP, XP64, Vista, Linux and Mac OSX. All those old cards still get performance improvements instead of being crippled.

Newbie
Posts: 1
Registered: 03-30-2008
newegg
Message 1179 of 1,436
Viewed 2,595 times
 
To Whom it May Concern:
 
While it is not our place to condemn the decisions of Creative regarding this issue, our customers come first. That being said, it has come to our attention that many of our customers are not happy with the products Creative has released nor the support for those products. To wit, we have processed nearly 5,000 return orders within the past 48 hours. While it is not normally in our best interest to publically comment in a manufacturer's forum, the overwhelming concensus has left us little choice. As such, effective tommorow morning newegg.com will suspend sales of the sound cards in question, particularly those indicated as "Vista compatible", pending an investigation into the matter. Those of you whom recently ordered such a card will still recieve your product as indicated in any relevant conversations. While we regret this abrupt decision, it has been deemed neccessary to protect the interest of our consumers. We welcome contact from Creative as soon as is possible so that we may resolve this issue.
 
Thank you,
 
Newegg.com
http://www.newegg.com

Daniel_K:
 
We are aware that you have been assisting owners of our Creative sound cards for some time now, by providing unofficial driver packages for Vista that deliver more of the original functionality that was found in the equivalent XP packages for those sound cards. In principle we don't have a problem with you helping users in this way, so long as they understand that any driver packages you supply are not supported by Creative. Where we do have a problem is when technology and IP owned by Creative or other companies that Creative has licensed from, are made to run on other products for which they are not intended. We took action to remove your thread because, like you, Creative and its technology partners think it is only fair to be compensated for goods and services. The difference in this case is that we own the rights to the materials that you are distributing. By enabling our technology and IP to run on sound cards for which it was not originally offered or intended, you are in effect, stealing our goods. When you solicit donations for providing packages like this, you are profiting from something that you do not own. If we choose to develop and provide host-based processing features with certain sound cards and not others, that is a business decision that only we have the right to make.
 
Although you say you have discontinued your practice of distributing unauthorized software packages for Creative sound cards we have seen evidence of them elsewhere along with donation requests from you. We also note in a recent post of yours on these forums, that you appear to be contemplating the release of further packages. To be clear, we are asking you to respect our legal rights in this matter and cease all further unauthorized distribution of our technology and IP. In addition we request that you observe our forum rules and respect our right to enforce those rules. If you are in any doubt as to what we would consider unacceptable then please request clarification through one of our forum moderators before posting.
 
Phil O'Shaughnessy
VP Corporate Communications
Creative Labs Inc.

Santa Clara University School of Law professor Eric Goldman, who has advised RealSelf on the case, posts about the issue on his personal blog:

No matter how many times I see it—and in the Internet era, I see it all too frequently—I always shake my head in disappointment and frustration when a company uses trademark law to lash out against unflattering consumer reviews. To these companies, trademark law is a cure-all tonic for their marketplace travails, and trademark doctrine is so plastic and amorphous that defendants have some difficulty mounting a proper defense. As a result, all too frequently, the threat of a trademark lawsuit causes the intermediary to capitulate and excise valuable content from the Internet.

In its answer, RealSelf goes on the offensive and alleges that Lifestyle Lift directly or indirectly posted shill reviews to the Lifestyle Lift discussion, thereby breaching RealSelf's user agreement. Off the top of my head, I can't think of another lawsuit where the message board operator sued a company for shill postings, so I think this case may be breaking important new legal ground.

We're having a hard time believing that "INFOMERCIAL SCAMS - LIFESTYLE LIFT COMPLAINTS" is an authentic product of a concerned consumer, which makes us even more curious about RealSelf's counterclaim that Lifestyle Lift astroturfed on the RealSelf site:

We believe they have violated our terms of use by posing as patients posting reviews on our site, which is misleading and unfair to our community. These sort of fabricated posts threaten our community's trust in us. We have no choice but to challenge these actions.

"Lifestyle Lift Tries to Use TM Law to Shut Down User Discussions; Website Countersues for Shilling—Lifestyle Lift v. RealSelf" [Eric Goldman - Technology & Marketing Law Blog]

(Photo: Warner Bros.)

Now there's a place for Consumerist readers to interact besides our comments. You can post your own stories, get help from other readers, swap stories, and generally have all sorts of message board fun times. Reader Jay put together the unofficial fan site and it seems to be generally a positive force in the universe.

Pop on over and get your Consumerist hive on. — BEN POPKEN

Consumeristforums.com.

My dell computer has been giving trouble form the day i got it. finally they replaced the motherboard and processor however instead of replacing my x6800 they gave me a pentium extreme edition 955. the guy from Dell says this is an upgrade i think he id trying to pass off something on me which chip is better.

The service rep has informed me that he has started the Exchange process and i will be informed by e-mail of updates, but should take approximately 19 labor days for the system to arrive.

x6800 vs pentium extreme edition 955 [TGForumz] (Thanks to Andrew!)

"I recently had my laptop a Dell 9400 replaced because it was giving off between 19 and 65 volts AC off any screw on the bottom of the laptop.

I am seriously concerned for myself and any [other] owners at this point. When I am using the laptop on my lap, my wife says I feel like a 9 volt battery.

On my first laptop, this problem lead to the death of my RAM and my Video Card."

The problem seems to stem from an improperly grounded power adapter. The solution is to call Dell and replace your two-pronged adapter with a properly grounded three-pronged one. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER

ATTN: All Dell 9400/e1705/m1710/m90 owners!!! [Notebook Forums] (Thanks to Matt!)

Of course I am all giddy because they have made an error right? Well, to my surprise they didn't. The guy on the phone is looking at my bill and tells me that most of the charges are from third parties. I'm like wtf? He says that although I may have unlimited text messages, the texts I am sending and receiving carry additional charges. Basically when I send a text to get my horoscope, they are registering me for some subscription for $29.99. I've sent out hundreds of those texts you see on tv. Now I'm pissed. moreso at these companies that don't tell you that you are being charged so much to get a fricken joke or something everyday. I tell the guy that I have unlimited texts and I should be able to send and receive all I want based on my text message plan.

Third party text packages advertisements can be spotted a mile away, screaming: "Text 'purple monkey dishwasher' to 5555 for your free ABBA ringtone, NOW!"

It's not Nextel's fault that people are gullible, but cellphone companies could help more. Currently, customers either get all text-messages, or none. By allowing users to block certain senders, and only allowing third-party vendors to pass along the charges for messages received, confusions like Treysdad's could be avoided.

Always read the fine print, and stay away from "text now!" services.... especially if purple monkey dishwashers are involved. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER

I Just Got A $7,000 Cell Phone Bill [Tampa Forums (Thanks to Carlo!)]

Upon searching for an image to go along with this morning's post on RadioShack's recent firing of 400 employees by email, I happened to stumble across the Jumping And Standing Forum, an incredible forum devoted to... well...

The forum's founder, Ron (who has over 15,000 posts), goes on to explain the allure of the RadioShack Employee Guidebook Cover:

I'm positive this is the gag forum of some ex-RadioShack employees with, perhaps, 15,000 posts worth of too-much-time on their hands, but I've been chuckling my way through it all morning. An engaging mystery with many layers of subtlety. I'm still trying to figure out why all of Michelle's posts were deleted by the moderator... is it because she's Asian?

The Official RadioShack Employee Guidebook Cover-Art Stand-Ins Forum [Jumping and Standing]